Clutch.



J. A. RANDALL.

CLUTCH.

APPLICATION HLED Nov. 15. 191|.

1 l 62,1 90., Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

I. A. RANDALL.

` cLuTcH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. I5. I9II.

l 162,1 9U. I Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

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I y s gl J. A. RANDALL.

CLUTCH.

APPLICATION man Nov. l5. 191|.

1 62,1 90. l Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

i @d/adx!! NVENTOR l//TJVESSES i All/army JOHN A. RANDALL, OF BROOKLYN,NEW YORK.

CLUTCH.

Specification 'of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

Original application iiled December 8, 1910, Serial No. 596,183. Dividedand this application led November 15, 1911. Serial No. 660,478.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. RANDALL, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county ofKings and State of New York, have4 invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Clutches, of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to clutches and its novelty consists in theconstruction and adaptation of the parts of a clutch adapted tocouplethe driving shaft with a driven member in a mechanism including anautomatic power measuring and recording dyna mometer mechanism in whichthe amount of power transmitted is measured, indicated,

and recorded, and when an overload is reached, the clutch isautomatically released.

In a prior application filed by me Decem showing the clutch in adisengaging position and also showing the vwiring in diagrammaticaloutline; Fig. 4 is a reduced side elevation of the dial plate; Fig. 5 isa perspective of the driven shaft annulus; Fig. 6 is a side elevation ofthe driving disk, parts being cut away to show concealed parts; Fig.,7is a perspective of the releaser ring; Fig. 8 is a perspective of thereleaser and shifter, and Fig. 9 is a representation of a tool foroperating the shifter. l

In the drawings, 10 is a driving shaft actuated from a suitable primemover indicated at 11. Fixed to it and revolving with it is a clutchingplate 12, having a hub 13 provided with a key way 14 into which isrinsertedl a key 15 whereby it is -secured to theshaft 10, and alsohaving a series of inserts 16 vof corkor othersuitable clutchingmaterial.

Loosely mounted on the shaft 10 is a second clutch plate 20 having aperipheral iiange 21, provided at several points with lugs 22 for apurpose which will presently appear, and provided also with an inwardlyprojecting annular hub or enlargement 23.

A driven shaft 30 is mounted to rotate in close proximity to the drivingshaft 10 from which it is se arated by a small but appreciable space 1Upon the outer end of this shaft 30 and adjacent to the inner end of thedriving shaft 10 is a cylindrical hub 31 providedwith a key wayindicated at 32 by which it is rigidly secured to the shaft 30 by asuitable key l(not shown). This hub is provided with an outwardlyprojecting annular {iange 33 adapted partially to embrace the hub 23 ofthe clutch plate 20. It is provided with an inwardly projecting gtoti 34having angularly disposed sides A coiled spring 36 is secured at one endto the annular ange 21 of the clutch plate 20 by a screw 37 or similarmeans and at the other end to the hub 31 by a screw 38 or similar means.

Mounted loosely uponthe shaft 30 is a cylindrical shifting and releasingdev ice 40 provided with two annular grooves, one 41 adapted to receiveaA forked tool (see Fig. 9) whereby it may be moved longitudinally alongthe shaft 30 and the other adapted to receive a divided ring indicatedat 42 (see also Fig. 7). It is also provided with a projecting tooth 44having angularly disposed sides 45, 45, arranged to contact with orengage the tooth 34 on the hub 31. Also secured to the shaft 30 by astrap 46 or other suitable means is a conducting pointer 47. A pulley 48and belt 49 represent a connection between the driven shaft 30 and anymachines which it may be intended to actuate.

In frontof the clutch plate 12 is arranged an annular disk or flat shoe50, provided with projecting pins 51, engaging in apertures formed toreceive them in the lugs 22 and with an interposed coiled spring 52around each pin whereby the disk 50 is normally kept out of contact withthe clutch plate 12.

Between, the frame 42 and the disk 50 is a link andL levermechanismindicated at 54 and made up of a series of sets of links and levers (seeFig. 1) whereby when the shifter 40 is moved toward the right (in Fig.2) the clutching plate 12 is pressed against the clutched plate 2O andthe cork inserts 16 are brought into contact with the outer surface ofthe plate 20 and consequently the rotary motion of the shaft 10 isimparted through this frictional contact to the plate 20.

Secured to the link and lever mechanism 54 at a suitable point is anelectrical conductor removably and adjustably mounted in a bracket 56and held in place by a set screw 57. Secured by a. bracket 58 to theceiling or any other convenient place adjacent to the mechanism is asimilar conductor 59 suitably insulated from the ceiling. A bracket 60also secured to the ceiling or other convenient support and insulatedtherefromcarries a dial plate 61 suitably graduated at its edge 62 interms of any appropriate notation. The center of the dial is coincidentwith the center of the shafts 10 and 30 and in the form illustrated theshaft passes through the dial.

Proper electrical connections are shown 1n diagram in Fig. 3 in which 80is the battery, 81 is the primary coil, S2 is the vibrator orinterrupter of the primary circuit, 83 is the secondary coil and 84 and85 are the secondary circuits.

The' divided ring 42 comprises arcuate members 420 terminating in lugs421 to which the 4link and lever mechanism is secured. The members 420encircle the cylindrical body of the shifter 40 and frictionally engagethe sides of the groove in which they are placed. The divided ring 42may be placed at any position with respect to the shifter 40 and thelatter may be so adjusted that its tooth 44 may have any positioncircularly with respect to theA tooth 34 on the right and through thelink and lever mechanism 54 the plate or shoe 50 will,be pressedinwardly against the clutching plate 12 and the inserts 16 of the latterwill frictionally engage the clutch plate 20 and the latter will turnwith the shaft 10. As soon as the plate 20 begins to turn it winds upthe spring 36 until the resistance of the shaft 30 is overcome andmotion is imparted through the spring to the annular hub 31 and throughit to the driven shaft 30 to which it is sccured. It is obvious that theangle through which the plate 20 is turned with respect 'to the annularhub 31 is a function of the power transmitted between the two shafts ifthe speed of the driven shaft is known. Since the plate 2O is rigidlycounccted to the divided ring 42 through the link and lever mechanism,the tooth 44 always has, when rotating, a fixed phase angle relativelyto any point on the plate 2O and therefore its motion is the same asthat of plate 20. Since the tooth 34 is fixed to the hub 31, the motionof the tooth 34 is the same as that ofthe hub 31. rlhe change of thephase angle of the tooth 34 relative to the tooth 44 is a measure of thetorque or power transmitted to the shaft 30 if the speed of the shaft isknown. Now the relative phase angle of the tooth 34 and the tooth 44 isindicated and recorded by the electrical attachment described up to thespecial occasion when this angle between the teeth becomes zero whichwill be hereinafter considered.

As the tooth 44, the link and lever mechanism 54 and the conductingpointer 55 have a fixed angular phase relation, and as the tooth 34, thehub 31, the shaft 30, the strap 46 and the pointer 47 also have a fixedangular phase relation, the change in phase relation of the tooth 34 andthe tooth 44 will be the same as the change in phase relation of theconducting pointer 55 and the conducting pointer 59.

The zero graduation upon the plate 61 is so placed that when theconductor 59 and the conductor 55 are directly opposite to it, there isno torque on the shaft, and a spark will jump from the conductor 59 tothe conductor 55 and simultaneously from the pointer 47 to the zero markon the dial. Vhen, however, the driving shaft is transmitting power tothe driven shaft, the spark will jump from the conductor 59 to theconductor 55 when they are opposite, but since the pointer 47 will nowbe in a different phase relation to the conductor 55, the spark willjump to a different graduation on the dial 61 and not to the zerograduation, and the observed numerical value of this graduation will bea measure ofthe torque and consequently of the power transmitted.

A permanent record of the torque, and

consequently of the power at a given fixed` speed, is formed by theabrasion of the graduated disk, or suitable material placed on the faceof the disk, caused by the spark; In case the torque increases to anamount which will reduce the phase angle between the surfaces of thetooth 34 and 44 to zero and is tending`to further increase, then thetooth 44 will contact with the tooth 34 and the opposing surfaces of theteeth will slide against each other and this will cause the shifter 40to be moved longitudinally on the shaft, which in turn will move thedivided ring 42 and through it the link and lever mechanism and thecoupling plates 50 ,will free the driving clutch plate 20 from thedriving clutch plate 12 and no power r'will then be transmitted and thedriven shaft will stop.

The link and lever mechanism may be circularly adjusted with referenceto the shifter 40 and consequently the angular displacement of the tooth44 with respect to the tooth 34 before contact takes place may be sovaried as to cause this release to occur at any load'which the operatormay desire. In other words, it is a variable overload release capable ofbeing set at any predetermined amount. It will be seen that in effectthe mechanism in addition to the coupling of the driving .and drivenshaft forming the subject matter of this application, comprises adynamometer or means for measuring the over ran ni e ma or` e urin e p1tV s1ttd,ensf mas gth torque, an automatic overload release and meansfor indicating and recording the measurement of power.

What I claim as new is :A

1. The combination with a driving shaft, a driven shaft, an intermediateclutch including an actuating device adapted to move the clutch tooperative position, of an antomaticreleaser whereby the clutch isdisengaged when the torque transmitted exceeds a predetermined amount,comprising a tooth moving with the driven shaft and a tooth mounted onthe clutch actuating device and adapted to engage therewith.

2. In a device of the Ycharacter described, a driven shaft, a hubsecured thereon, a driving shaft, a coiled spring connecting the drivingshaft with the hub through a clutch and -a tooth on the hub,in'combination with a device for operating the clutch including aAshifter loosely mounted on the driven shaft and provided with a toothadapted to engage with the tooth on the hub.

3. The combination with a driving-shaft, a driven shaft, an intermediateclutch, an actuating device adapted to move the clutch into operativeposition, and tooth engaging means associated with the driven shaft andthe actuating device to move the clutch into inoperative position whenthe power transmitted exceeds the predetermined amount.

4. The combination with a driving shaft, a driven shaft, anintermediatelclutch, an actuating device arranged for longitudinalmovement on the druiven shaft and adapted to move the clutch intooperative position,

and engageable tooth means associated with the driven shaft and theactuating device to movev 'the clutch into inoperative position when thepower transmitted exceeds the predetermined amount.

5. The combination with a driving shaft,

a driven shaft, an intermediate clutch, an

actuating device for the clutch arranged for longitudinal movement onthedriven shaft Y and adapted to move the clutch into operative positionwhen 'moved in one direction, and coacting engageable tooth means on thedriven shaft and the actuating device adapted when engaged to move thelatter in the" actuating device having a link and lever connection withsaid clutch and adapted to move the clutch'into operative-position andautomatic clutch releasing means comprising engageable teeth associatedwith the driven shaft and the actuating device adapted to throw theclutch into inoperative position when the power transmitted exceeds thepredetermined amount.

8. In a device of the character described, a driving shaft, a drivenshaft, a clutch, an actuating device therefor to move the clutch intooperative position, a hub rigidly secured to the driven shaft andcarrying a projecting tooth, and a tooth on the actuating device adaptedto contact with the first named tooth when the power transmitted exceedsa predetermined amount and thereby move the clutch into inoperativeposition.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOI-IN A.V RANDALL.

Witnesses: l l

ALAN C. MoDoNNELL, .0. W. SG1=mER,'Jr.

